Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Fast Lane Electronic Toll Pass is Useless

So, I've found that my "Fast Lane" pass gets me on the highway somewhat quicker than if I'd have to stop and pay the MassPike toll collectors. But, this point is completely muted by the traffic jams that seem to be a result of "Fast" lanes placed at the Weston and Boston tolls. When one heads North into New Hampshire or Maine, every single lane has an electric payment system installed so traffic can be distributed evenly across the tolls. On the Massachusetts Turnpike, all of the "Fast Lane" traffic is routed to 2-5 (out of 4-10) lanes causing a much worse bottleneck effect than even the tolls alone could cause.

At one point, fewer people had the Fast Lane pass and it was actually of benefit to use it at the toll plazas. Now every morning I see the non-electronic tolls sitting empty for entire minutes while traffic waiting to get through the "Fast Lanes" backs up for hundreds and hundreds of yards.

I know that volume going into Boston is an issue. I know I'm not the smartest duck in the pond when it comes to my commuting choices, but at the moment I need to live outside of Boston for a cheaper cost of living. So, when my only route to my daily destination is clogged to the brim, I'm feeling forced to either look for a job with an easier commute or move back to Boston again (that's not going to happen ANY time soon).

Urban sprawl and inflation are ridiculous. I wish I could afford to live in the city where I work.

AND to top that off, my car insurance went up 30 dollars a month due to living in Worcester. Must be the high rate of homicide, car jackings and terrorist attacks that the insurance adjusters take into consideration.

At least my Toyota Yaris gets great gas mileage and the cost of gasoline is getting better.